The invention relates to a device for the removal of foreign bodies and thrombi from body cavities and blood vessels using a guide wire provided with a distal element. Said distal element is non-detachably connected with the guide wire.
The invention, furthermore, relates to a combination comprising such a device and a cage element.
Thromboembolic diseases such as cardiac infarction, pulmonary embolism, peripheral thrombosis, organ embolisms etc. are typically caused by a thromboembolism (hereinafter for short thromb or thrombus), i.e. a visco-elastic blood clot comprising platelets, fibrinogen, coagulation factors etc. forming in a blood vessel which it obstructs either wholly or in part. The obstruction of organ arteries also leads to supply of oxygen and nutrients to the associated tissue being interrupted. The disorder of the functional metabolism linked with functional losses is closely followed by a failure of the structural metabolism resulting in the relevant tissue becoming destroyed (infarction). Organs most frequently affected in this way are the heart and the brain. Nevertheless, the arteries of the limbs as well as pulmonary arteries are also impaired.
Venous thromboses and thromboembolic occlusions are frequently occurring in the leg and pelvic veins. The disease pattern of the thrombotic occlusion of an intracranial sinus may lead to severe intracerebral hemorrhage due to a failure of venous drainage of brain tissue.
In view of the severity of the disease patterns associated with thromboembolism and the prevalence rate of such diseases various techniques have been developed aimed at dissolving or removing thrombi.
It is known in this context to treat such patients with thrombolytic agents such as streptokinase or urokinase or anticoagulants intended to achieve thrombolysis or limit the growth of thrombi. Since treatment methods of this kind are usually very time consuming they are frequently combined with invasions aimed at reducing the size of or removing the thrombus or embolus mechanically.
Aside from open surgical operations prior art techniques more and more embrace the use of transluminal or endovascular, catheter-guided interventional therapy methods because these are of less invasive nature. It is thus known to remove the thrombus from the patient's body by means of vacuum producing suction catheters or mechanically using catheters provided with capturing cages, helixes, hooks or similar elements; refer to U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,245,089 B1, 5,171,233 A1, Thomas E. Mayer et al., Stroke 2002 (9), 2232.
Disadvantages associated with the known transluminal devices are that with said devices it is often impossible to remove the thromb completely and, moreover, there is a risk of the thromb or fragments of it being released into the blood stream thus passing on to vessels of smaller lumen which are more difficult to reach and treated. Furthermore, due to their size and/or low flexibility the devices known from prior art are only inadequately suited for the removal of thrombi from greatly convoluted vessels or those of particularly small lumen such as those in the brain.
From US 2002/0049452 a device with a catheter is known for the removal of thrombi to which distal end capture arms made of shape-memory material are attached which in their compressed state rest against the catheter and when expanded extend radially from the catheter outwards. When in expanded position which is caused by the body temperature the capture arms are intended to get caught in the thrombus and then retract it out of the blood vessel as the catheter is pulled back into another catheter. The drawback associated with this device is, however, that in order to cool and thus keep the capture arms below transformation temperature before they are released into the blood stream it must either be moved behind the thrombus in a secondary catheter which brings about the cooling effect or inside the catheter provided with the capture arms a heating system has to be arranged that enables the transformation temperature to be attained when the thrombus has been reached. Not only are the design requirements of this configuration very high and thus prone to disturbances it is also the sheer physical size of this device that rules out a treatment of vessels having a particularly small lumen.
In view of the disadvantages of these prior art devices it is thus the object of the invention to provide a device for the removal of foreign bodies and thrombi from body cavities and blood vessels which alleviates the surgical risk existing when removing thrombi and allows the treatment of vessels of especially small lumen.